


Primeval 100 Drabbles: 101 - 150

by Annariel



Series: Primeval 100 Drabbles [3]
Category: Primeval, Primeval: New World
Genre: Community: primeval100, Drabble Collection, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-15
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2017-10-22 15:40:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annariel/pseuds/Annariel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mixture of drabbles for prompts drawing from all of the Primeval series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Memories

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to collect together the first drabbles for the third 50 Primeval 100 prompts as I write them. Therefore it is a work in progress since these only get tackled with p100 does a "past challenges" week. One of the reasons I've put "Choose not to Warn" and not listed characters and pairings is that this may well vary as more get added and the characters and pairings would probably quickly tend towards "all". Since I can add specific warning as well as "Choose not to Warn" I will add specific warnings as they crop up.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 101

The English countryside of the early 21st century was, all things considered, a good place to die. Gideon sat in the sunshine, untroubled by immediate fears and worries. He could smell flowers and hear birds sing.

When he closed his eyes, however, he saw pale yellow skies. He was assailed by the smell of sweaty human bodies, fearfully cramped too close together. He heard the cries of hunting beasts and insects. For all he fully intended those memories to be of no time nor place, he felt deep pangs of nostalgia and home-sickness that the peaceful garden could not sooth.


	2. Home, Sweet  Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 102

Helen came back once. She unlocked the door and stared at the mountain of letters on the hall floor. Her name stared back from countless catalogues.

The house was full of familiar and reassuring mess; full of Nick and memories.

Helen made a cup of tea and thumbed through a newspaper she found under the sofa. She read of celebrities and politicians she neither knew nor cared about. 

After an hour she was mind-numbingly bored. She washed the cup and placed it carefully back in the cupboard. She returned the paper to its place under the sofa.

Then she left.


	3. "I'm Sorry"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 103 (and 333 Past Challenges)

"Done it!" Toby shouted in triumph as the simulation results displayed on her terminal. 

"Great!" Connor's voice on the speaker was now a familiar background. "I'll load the code onto the prototype at this end."

Toby reached out her hand to transmit the data but stopped as she felt a presence by her shoulder. She turned to see Mac.

"What's going on Toby?"

She swallowed. "We're caught between several time lines. They're trying to resolve."

Mac frowned. "Is this to do with that frozen... you know? My brain is all fuzzy. How did I get here?"

"Oh Mac, I'm sorry!"


	4. A Hard Day's Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 104 and 431 (Past Challenges)

Danny was in the 1960s. Two 20th century stops in close succession were either very good luck or the universe was trying to tell him something. He resolved to keep a close look out for dinosaur-mad toddlers called Helen.

On the plus side, it was the early 1960s and he was in Liverpool. That meant he had a very definite plan, assuming he could rustle up enough old money to afford the entrance price

Maybe, if he watched their fingers, he could even figure out the opening chord.

Danny Quinn was humming very quietly as he entered the Cavern Club.


	5. Correspondance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 105

"Post for Mr. Hart," said the ARC porter cheerfully, dumping a pile of letters on the rec room table.

Stephen turned bright red. "Not more of them!"

"What on Earth are they?" Jenny asked curiously, picking up the nearest. 

It was a pale lavender envelope addressed in a large careful hand. Jenny sniffed, there was a distinct floral aroma.

"You remember that school we were called out to last week?" Abby said with a twinkle in her eye!

"Liston Girls' High?" Jenny asked.

"That's right. Meet the saviour of Year 8!"

Stephen groaned and buried his face in his hands.


	6. Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 111

Although he wouldn't admit it, Lester had grown fond of his rag-tag team of lunatics. The past weeks had been hard. But the ARC was almost reparied. The new team members had integrated well. He was proud of them: proud of Connor for suppressing his grief and working on the artefact; proud of Abby for filling in the gaps left by Stephen; proud of Jenny for holding them all together; proud that no one was giving up despite the obvious danger.

There was a knock on the office door. It was Jenny. Lester saw her face and his heart sank.


	7. Captain Becker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 112

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways," said Jess.

Becker snorted quietly and pulled her close.

"I love your chest muscles." She ran a hand over them. "I love the way you pout when you don't get your way."

"I don't pout."

"Do too. I love your eyebrows."

"My eyebrows?"

"They're very expressive, like small furry animals with their own personalities."

"Good God Jess!"

"Your chest hair has a lot of personality too." She tangled her hand thoughtfully in the black curls.

"Right!" said Becker decisively, flipping Jess onto her back. "Less romance! more sex!"

Jess smirked.


	8. Keeping Cool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 113 (and 333 Past Challenges)

Lester ventured cautiously into the ARC's ground where the general populace was running riot amid stalls manned by the staff. Some idiotic Minister had decided they should participate in a neighbourhood outreach event. 

"How goes the day?" Lester asked.

"We're keeping it cool, sir," Lyle said, though his eyes had a wild and hunted look.

A knife flew between them to embed itself in a tree. Lester glanced over to see Blade standing solicitously over a small girl in a pink frock with floral ribbons. She held a second knife in the approved throwing grip.

"Keeping it cool," Lyle repeated.


	9. Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 115 and 431 (Past Challenges)

James Lester had met Christine Johnson's parents once at a Ministry function of some kind. He couldn't remember the details of the event except that it had involved champagne, canapes and some boring speeches.

When he saw them seated in the waiting area of his office he wondered which particular Ministry flunky had thought it a good idea to send them in his direction, and whether it was the result of malice or incompetence. He had no wish to take his animosity with Christine out on them, but nor would he be able to offer them any information or comfort.


	10. Tender Loving Care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 116

In the depths of the night Jenny would toss and turn. She babbled and cried out but the words were unintelligible. Sarah was glad. In the depths of her soul she feared that Jenny would call out his name.

Sarah would shush quietly and push the damp red hairs from Jenny's brow, watching over her as the nightmare subsided once more into sleep. Then Jenny would lie, quiet and beautiful in her arms.

Once Jenny opened her eyes, smiled a tired but contented smile at Sarah and pulled her close, wordlessly, so that they fell asleep entangled, content and comforted.


	11. Girls, Girls, Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 117

The horde of small pink creatures dashed in and around the dining room.

"Girls! Girls!" cried Mrs Wood. Twelve attentive and expectant faces looked her way.

Sarah, on the other hand, stood leaning against the wall, dressed as a pirate. She pouted.

"And.. err... pirate!" added Mrs Wood. "Time for hunt the slipper"

* * *

The small feathery creature dashed in and around the soldiers.

"Guys! Guys!" shouted Connor. Three attentive and expectant faces turned his way.

Sarah, on the other hand, stood leaning against a marble statue, eyebrows raised. She pouted.

"And... err... woman!" added Connor. "Time for hunt the compsognathus."


	12. Meat and Two Veg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 118

Danny Quinn reappeared through an anomaly on an industrial estate near Berking in the early hours of the morning. The team removed him to the nearest hotel, where he spent a good hour in the bathroom. After that he was debriefed by Lester until the hotel dining room opened for business.

"What is that?" Matt asked.

"This, my son, is a full English. The king of proper meals, not like those service station sandwiches you lot have been trying to fob me off with."

"Doesn't a proper meal involve vegetables?" 

Danny gestured emphatically with his fork. "Hash browns _and_ waffles."


	13. Want, Take, Have

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 121

Want. Take. Have. It was a simple mantra but, in the twisting corridors of Whitehall, an extremely powerful one, provided you were clear enough about what you wanted, subtle about how you took it, and wary once you had it.

James Lester gazed down upon his domain in the newly built ARC building and a quiet concern entered his thoughts. He'd wanted control of the government response to the anomalies, and he'd fought off several people and departments in order to take that control. But now he had it, he was clearly going to have to do something with it.


	14. Mixed Signals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 122

Screen number one shows people running. Jess doesn't know who they are. Disembodied voices echo in her ears.

"There's something in one of the nearby corridors, I can hear it moving."

"Oh fuck! Oh fuck!"

"Jones, where are you? What you can see?" Jess demands but the swearing just continues.

Four screens show nothing of interest. 

"East Wing clear!"

Jess glances at the floor plan on screen six and patterns fall into place.

"Becker! You need to take the first right and then cut across the atrium. Whatever it is, it is in the North corridor near the conference room."


	15. Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 123 (and 333 Past Challenges)

It had been three days and no one had brought food to the menagerie. Monty might not have been particularly bright but he had come to associate the bars of his cage with the sharp pain of an electric shock. But eventually hunger drove him to attack and when no pain came he trumpeted loudly, charging against the bars until they broke. He followed the scent of fresh air, blundering among the other cages, releasing animals at random. Eventually the rag-tag bunch emerged into a still and silent world and, oblivious and incurious to humanity's fate, headed out towards freedom.


	16. Legacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt 124 & 431 (Past Challenges)

The Andersons had a book or, more accurately, they had a hard cover with a handful of pages remaining onto which were inscribed names and dates, starting out with Patrick Anderson in 1898 and continuing in ever more cramped handwriting until Matt's own name at the end. All the other pages had long been torn out, used for something or other, in the desperate decline of civilisation.

It was only when Matt showed it to Emily that it made sense to him; the strange words embossed on the cover; the reason for the record.

"It's your family bible," Emily said.


	17. Two Glasses of Red Wine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 125 (Picture Prompt)

Jenny had spent the day arguing with an aristocrat whose stately home had been visited by, in Jenny's expert opinion, a remarkably docile and well-behaved pair of Gastonias. The woman wanted compensation for munched Rhododendrons and had repeatedly phoned Jenny to threaten her with miscellaneous great and good. Jenny then phoned said great and good and deployed phrases such as "national security", "in the opinion of the Home Secretary" and, in a moment of desperation at 6pm, "yes the Palace is aware of our work."

Sarah wine ready on Jenny's return.

"Down with the aristocracy," she toasted.

The glasses clinked.


	18. Bobble Hats and Corsets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 131 - New Pairings (write a pairing that hasn't been written before)

Duncan looked uncertainly at Phillip, a shy sideways glance that set Burton's heart beating fast and eagerly in his chest.

"I really never saw anything in Jenny," Duncan murmured.

"I know you didn't," soothed Burton, stroking Duncan's bobble hat gently. "She manipulated you and then cast you aside like you were worthless. But you're not. To me you are everything."

Burton could barely restrain himself. Duncan looked so perfect. But he held back, allowing Duncan to make the first move.

And, finally, Duncan placed his beautiful hands on the lacings of Burton's corset and began to pull at the strings.


	19. The Games we Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 132

Sir James Lester rubbed his forehead as he read yet another briefing report from a sub-committee from deep within some government ministry or department or quango. The report itself wasn't particularly tiresome, but the careful reading between the lines sapped his energy.

First Leek, and then Christine; James Lester had been in politics too long. There would be more such threats and he watched for signs. No one really knew what the anomalies were, nor how they might be exploited, but everyone knew they were important. The ARC was going to prove a significant game piece in the long run.


	20. Just the One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 133: Doctors and Nurses

Iman checked for life signs because it was protocol, but she could tell the man was dead. She had developed a sense for when there was life present. Noting that he, at least, had no immediate need of her services, she then checked the scene for people who could use her skills.

A suit appeared before her, with an air of displaced authority.

"Any other casualaties sir?" she asked.

"Some minor cuts and bruises," he said. "Just the one the death."

Iman said nothing. Just the one was one too many. She saw her feelings mirrored on the suit's face.


	21. Temple, Connor Temple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 134

Zaroff was mad, certifiably so. But, as the explosion started, Abby dived through his artificial anomaly anyway.

She slid along a smooth floor. A strong arm grabbed her and hauled her up. She had a brief glimpse of tuxedo. A gun was firing. "Damn security guards. We're going to have to jump," said a familiar voice. "Hang on!"

With a gasp, Abby felt the man launch them out of the skyscraper window. A sudden tug make her look up, into the folds of a parachute and into Connor's face.

"Wha..?" she started.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Temple, Connor Temple."


	22. Wishful Thinking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 135

"What I could do with right now," said Lyle. "Is a cigarette."

"Not a hope for six million years," said Ditzy. "I'd settle for a decent pint. We can probably brew something round here."

"Not something decent," returned Lyle.

"Abigail Maitland. She'd make up for the Jurassic or whenever we are," said Finn.

"She wouldn't look at you twice, mate," scoffed Blade.

"Bet she would. You can tell she's a real goer."

"Watch it Finn, ladies present," muttered Lyle.

Four dubious pairs of eyes turned to look at Lacey.

She shrugged. "Finn can have Maitland if I can have Temple."


	23. Secret Santa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 136

"Ho! Ho! Ho!"

"I'm not fooled Cutter. I have paperwork. Get out of my office."

"Have a little Christmas spirit. Ho? Ho? Ho?"

"Jenny, remove Professor Cutter from my office and put him back in the Christmas party."

"Ho, ho, ho." Cutter clearly waggled his eyebrows at Jenny as he went out. She smiled and rolled her eyes at him.

"What have you done to him?"

Jenny smiled smugly. "The secret santa delivered an excellent Ardbeg to the free bar. Sure I can't tempt you sir?"

"Bah! Humbug!"

"Very good sir."

"Just out of curiosity, how old is the Ardbeg?"


	24. Mistletoe and Wine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 137

"The cross was made out of mistletoe. That's why the plant withered and became parasitic." Claudia's arms overflowed with green and white mistletoe. Ivy trailed around her hair and her dress was white.

"That's not true in so many ways," commented Nick.

"It's true in all the ways that matter."

"Why do we kiss under it?"

"It fruits in winter. Work it out, Nick."

Nick actually blushed. "And this feast of Queen Mab's tonight? Where wine will flow like a river?"

Claudia kissed him ever so gently and her eyes danced. "Well Yamin had to come from somewhere didn't she?"


	25. Unwrapping the Presents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 138

"Fingerless mittens! Thanks Jenny.'' Connor ignored the sound of stifled giggling behind him.

"I'm glad you like them Connor. I wanted to get something you'd use.''

"How many pairs of mittens is that?'' asked Abby once she was gone.

"Only three, Lester and Danny bought me scarves. Stop laughing, they're all very thoughtful!''

"Here's mine.'' Abby pushed a small package across the table.

Connor opened it cautiously. "It's a ring? with a heart?''

"It's a promise ring. Look it up on wikipedia.''

"I know what a promise ring is,'' Connor said quietly as he put it on. "Best present ever.''


	26. The End of an Era

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 139

Helen was beginning to regret her instinct to explore. The Permian landscape fascinated her and the other gateways to other times fascinated her more. But she was lost and could not get home. Nick would be missing her.

Then she saw the Dimetrodon skeleton, by the dried up shore of a prehistoric sea. The air was short of oxygen, making it hard to breathe. Something inside of her strained and broke. She did not regret her urge to explore. She did not really regret Nick. She was filled with the passion of discovery.

It was the end of an era.


	27. Trains, Planes and Automobiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 140

**Train:** Taylor watched the guards loading up their luggage.

"Where are we going?"

"Scotland," said Claudia. "There's an alert in Glencoe."

"Flying would be quicker."

"Not in this weather."

"I should do something about that."

 **Plane:** "It'll be fine, Connor!" Taylor pulled the goggles down over her face. "Honestly, the theory is sound. I've flown before."

 **Automobile:** "Just keep cranking the handle."

"This is worse than that airplane of yours!" complained Connor.

"It's a lot more practical! You can drive it to your honeymoon location."

"Who told you I was getting married?"

"Abby's just randomly wearing that ring, is she?"


	28. Ice Age

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 141

As the glaciers advanced we hit upon the idea of siphoning in heat from other eras. We built on temporal theory dating back to the early 21st century.

We didn't realise the irony in the name `Anomaly Project'. Someone with access to classified files must have put two-and-two together and then suggested it as joke.

There wasn't much laughter as the dinosaurs thundered across the continents, but at least modern armaments meant they were controllable.

But no one expected the anomalies to reach forward. The anomalies shouldn't have reached forward.

No one was laughing at all as the predators arrived.


	29. Nick Cutter Lies Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 142 (Nick Cutter)

Nick Cutter lies alone. The slammed doors and raised voices are past. She won't be back tonight.

Nick Cutter lies alone, lacking the strength to finish the Missing Persons form.

Nick Cutter lies alone. The faint memory of a kiss lingers on his lips, the sharp image of a fiancé etched into his mind's eye.

Nick Cutter lies alone. Memories of shared tents soured by recrimination, distrust and finally death churn through his thoughts.

One stayed close. He did not die alone.

The last of the mourners have gone. The head stone stands, simple and cold. Nick Cutter lies alone.


	30. Winner Takes All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 143

Evolution is incredibly simple for something so incredibly complex. Sooner or later something will out-compete you and that's it. Winner takes all.

Helen knew this. Helen had thought she understood this. It was the armour around her heart. She viewed people dispassionately, just another species muddling along until the evolutionary dice rolled against it.

The sight of a ravaged world with predators feasting in the ruins hit her like a vicious kick. This could not be allowed to happen. She could out-think and out-compete these creatures, single-handedly if need be.

She would win. They would not have any of it.


	31. I've Got a Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 144

"I've got a theory," writes Connor.

"Actually I've got lots of theories. I don't like one theory. I like all the other theories. The one's that don't work. They are better theories than the one that does work. Obviously they're not scientifically better but they're unscientifically better, if you see what I mean.

"There is a trial and error pattern. Anomalies cluster ever closer to some event until a desired change is achieved. Then someone or something moves on to a new experiment."

"I've got a theory that the anomalies are deliberate."

 _Things change._

Connor writes. "I have no theories."


	32. Romance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 145

"Stairs are blocked!" shouted Sarah.

She leaned over the balcony and stared into the ornate hallway below. The Deinonychus were all on the stairway and the landing below them. "Hallway's clear."

"More behind us!" gasped Jenny.

Sarah risked a glance down the corridor. "Damn!"

"Chandelier!" said Jenny.

Sarah glanced at the heavy rope. "You have to be kidding me."

"I wish I was. Any better ideas?"

"No."

As they swung down to the marble floor Sarah felt Jenny's lips brush against her own. She stared at Jenny in surprise.

Jenny blushed. "Sorry! Caught up in the romance of the moment."


	33. There is no I in Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 146

Maturity suited Connor. Geekiness had become a gentle eccentricity. Manic enthusiasm had become an eagle-eyed curiosity and a refusal to be defeated by events. Social ineptness had combined with intelligence into a careful watchfulness for the feelings of other people.

"I am accepting this Nobel prize on behalf of the most amazing team of people a man could hope to work with. Some of them lost their lives trying to understand and contain the anomalies..."

In the audience Helen could only seeth to herself. _I_ discovered the anomalies. _I_ mapped them. I developed the first theories. _I_ was there first.


	34. Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 147

Helen was always victorious.

She had set out to show her theories were correct, and they had been proved right.

On the way she had been arrested without charge, injured and villified. She had been misunderstood. Her words had been twisted and her motives derided.

Still...

She had her own goals and intended to pursue them.

She followed a predator to the future.

She had learned how to manipulate the time lines. She had decided on the action to take. She had successfully infiltrated the ARC. She had removed Nick from the equation.

Victory, as Connor might have said, sucked.


	35. I've got Chills... They're Multiplying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 149

Lester had said it would be "good for morale", which Nick assumed meant "if I have to go to the staff party, so do you."

Even so, and considerably against his better judgement, he let Connor and Abby cajole him onto the floor for YMCA, and again for the Time Warp.

The excellent beer was probably to blame.

He lost track of which cheesy number from his youth was blaring out.

He turned, staggered, caught hold of the nearest person and sang "You're the one that I want," to a surprised looking Jenny.

Suddenly he realised that he meant it.


	36. Rock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 149

Every summer, throughout her childhood, Abby and her family had spent a week at the seaside with her grandparents. They would build sandcastles, explore rockpools and eat bright pink rock.

"Your granddad has the countryside running right through him," her Nan used to say. "Bit like this stick of rock."

Indeed her grandfather always had the air of a farmer about him. He had depths, but they weren't really hidden ones.

Connor was like that. What you saw was what you got, without guile or polish. He had `Connor' written all the way through him, like a stick of rock.


	37. Bedtime Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 150

"Tell me a story."

Connor's no good at telling stories, not really. He breaks off to fill in back-story he's forgotten to mention. He tends to digress into observations about science. He wants to explain and excuse the bits that don't quite make sense.

However, Abby has asked.

He resists the temptation to reveal the excitement of Highlander or the intricacies of Iain M. Banks. He searches in his mind for a simple tale.

Abby falls asleep in his arms, under the bright stars of the Cretaceous, as his voice murmurs the story of two babes, lost in a wood.


End file.
